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2023 - 2024 LEGISLATURE
2023 ASSEMBLY JOINT RESOLUTIO N 138
February 23, 2024 - Introduced by Representatives DRAKE, BALDEH, MYERS,
HAYWOOD, STUBBS, MOORE OMOKUNDE, MADISON, JOERS, GOYKE, RATCLIFF,
SINICKI, EMERSON, BARE, O'CONNOR, CLANCY, ANDRACA, SHANKLAND, SUBECK,
CONLEY, DOYLE, SHELTON, C. ANDERSON, CONSIDINE, J. ANDERSON, VINING,
NEUBAUER, SPIROS, RIEMER, MCGUIRE, PALMERI, HONG, BILLINGS, JACOBSON,
SNODGRASS, OHNSTAD and ORTIZ-VELEZ, cosponsored by Senators L. JOHNSON,
CARPENTER, AGARD, LARSON, ROYS, SPREITZER and SMITH. Referred to
Committee on Rules.
***AUTHORS SUBJECT TO CHANGE***
Relating to: recognizing February 2024 as Black History Month.
Whereas, Black History Month provides a deliberate opportunity to reflect on
the common humanity underlying all people and to raise awareness and foster
respect for the heritage and contributions of people of African descent; and
Whereas, this year marks over 400 years since the arrival of enslaved Africans
in Virginia. The existence of Africans in North America can be traced back to 1525,
and through 1866, the Transatlantic Slave Trade is estimated to have ensnared more
than 12 million African people, with an estimated 10 million surviving the
unconscionable Middle Passage, landing in North America, the Caribbean, and
South America; and
Whereas, Wisconsin history first references African descendants in a speech
given in 1725 by a chief of the Illinois Indians, in which he said, “a negro belonging
to Monsieur de Boisbriant" at Green Bay; and
Whereas, on February 12, 1926, noted Harvard scholar and historian Dr.
Carter G. Woodson founded “Negro History Week,” and since then, the United States
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has recognized first Negro History Week and then Black History Month and
celebrated the ethnic and racial diversity that enriches and strengthens our nation;
and
Whereas, both enslaved and free people of African descent have participated in
every aspect of America's effort to secure, protect, and advance the causes of freedom
and civil rights and have stories that are an inspiration to all citizens, that reflect
the triumph of the human spirit, and that offer hope to everyday people to rise above
both prejudice and circumstance and to build lives of dignity; and
Whereas, people of African descent or African Americans have made
measurable differences in their respective industries, such as:
1. Elisterine Clayton — 100-year-old Milwaukee resident who, along with her
husband Powell Clayton, was a part of building the historic Halyard Park
community. Halyard Park is one of the longest-standing African American middle
class neighborhoods within Milwaukee. Elisterine owned and operated a series of
grocery stores in underserved communities and ensured that residents had access
to healthy food options within their neighborhoods. She was a part of a pioneering
group that brought Black-owned banks, medical practices, and businesses to the
Bronzeville, Chicago, area.
2. Torre Johnson, Sr. — Founder of X-Men United and longtime community
and youth advocate. Torre was connected to Jeannetta Robinson and Career Youth
Development.
3. Gab Taylor — Cofounder of Program the Parks and member of Standing Up
for Racial Justice. Gab has held activities and programming for youth in Sherman
Park since 2016 and fed hundreds of young people from Sherman Park to Moody
Park.
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4. Paul Higginbotham — The first African American judge to serve on the
Wisconsin Court of Appeals. He was appointed to the court by Governor James Doyle
in 2003 and subsequently elected to the court in 2005.
5. Marcia Anderson — A retired senior officer of the U.S. Army Reserve from
Beloit, Wisconsin and the first African American woman to become a major general
in the U.S. Army Reserve.
6. Alonzo Robinson, Jr. — Wisconsin's first African American registered
architect and the City of Milwaukee's first Black registered municipal architect. On
Tuesday, November 30, 2021, the Milwaukee Fire Department Administration
Building was renamed after Alonzo Robinson.
7. Dr. William Rogers — A historian and educator, who was an integral part of
the formation of the Black Radio Network, an African studies educator, and made
significant contributions to the study of Black life, civil rights, and social justice.
8. Dr. Shawnee Daniels-Sykes — A professor of theology at Mount Mary
University who was the only Black Catholic female health care ethicist in the United
States at the time of her passing in October 2022.
9. Dr. Jacqueline Mann — Milwaukee Public Schools board clerk and currently
the only African American board clerk in Wisconsin; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the assembly, the senate concurring, That the Wisconsin
Legislature recognizes February 2024 as Black History Month and extends
appreciation to the above-named persons for their contributions to the state of
Wisconsin, the country, and their fellow citizens.
(END)
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